Day trips by air proving popular in Rockford
When officials at Chicago Rockford International Airport decided to try offering day trip flights for the first time in July, they offered their e-mail club members the chance to head to Niagara Falls.
The 131-seat plane sold out in 21 hours and Executive Director Bob O'Brien knew they had a market.
He followed up the first flight with five more day trips that left Rockford at 8 a.m. and then took off from their destination at 8 p.m. Trips to Indianapolis for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard and Mackinac Island, Mich., also quickly sold out. Now O'Brien said he is looking to add more destinations for a new batch of trips for fall.
"It's just amazing," he said. "We've got those figured out now, and what we want to do is do some occasional ones to Niagara and Mackinac Island. But now we're going to look to do Nashville and ski trips."
Flight prices vary depending on destination because of fuel costs. Niagara cost $192 round trip and Mackinac priced at $175. Paired with the rising cost of taking a road trip, the flights also hugely cut down on transportation times, with the plane getting you to Niagara Falls in one hour 14 minutes instead of 10 to 12 hours it would take on the road.
Once they get to their destination, flyers are free to spend their time however they please so long as they're back in time for the return trip. But for shared interests like getting from the airport to Niagara Falls and back, Rockford has been booking transportation for large groups and providing attendees information on local attractions like boat tours and casinos.
The destinations for the next batch of flights haven't been set yet, but O'Brien said he is looking at trying to arrange for day trips to Michigan and Wisconsin for college football games and has talked about flights to Mount Rushmore, Memphis, New York, St. Louis and Wisconsin ski locations.
"Rather than driving to Wisconsin, you can take a two-hour flight and go skiing," O'Brien said.
Members of the airport's free Miles Ahead club will continue to get first pick of tickets. Since the flights have sold out so fast, O'Brien recommends interested travelers sign up. He is also looking at using a bigger plane for the flights because he expects 150 or 200 seats could still sell out in a day with people looking for a different way to spend a day off.